Campaign Action
The problems Republicans are having with their Obamacare repeal promise are legion, starting out with the little problem that when they made that promise, they also promised to "replace" it. Seven years later, still nothing on the replacement front. Or to be charitable, lots of little things that don't make up a replacement plan and that they can't get everyone to agree on anyway. That agreeing part is quickly emerging as their big problem. Because the House maniacs have made clear that they don't need no stinkin' plan. Now they've got a senator on their side.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, one of the leading conservative voices in that chamber, said he will vigorously oppose efforts for Republicans to wait until they have a plan ready to replace the law before they repeal it. “There is a lot less agreement about what comes next,” he said. “If we load down the repeal bill with what comes next, it’s harder to get both of them passed.” […]
At a minimum, said Lee, Congress should immediately pass the bill it passed in 2015 that was vetoed by President Barack Obama. That partial repeal would have eliminated the expansion of the Medicaid program for the poor, as well as all the insurance subsidies that help people afford coverage and the taxes that pay for the program.
“If we can get something more aggressive, then great,” he said. “But we cannot make progress until we first repeal Obamacare.”
That'd be a kind of "shock and awe" approach that even Popular Vote Loser Donald Trump isn't down with, probably because he knows enough about what's going to make him "popular" and ripping off the band-aid that is health insurance for more than 30 million people isn't it.
In other words, they're flailing even harder now.